Noble Terminology
This guide serves to help you understand both some basic concepts as well as quite a lot of terms used when discussing nobility and related roleplay from an OOC perspective. Mind, these are all written by one person (Med) and represent both generally used terms and some controversial ones as well. Point is to communicate information, and in no way to pick on certain players/characters/groups. As such, all examples provided will be given without referencing played characters or families except where absolutely necessary. __TOC__ Noble Families These are mostly categories to understand the behaviour and mechanics of different noble families. Low Nobility "Background Nobility", "Filler Nobility", "Filler Families" The term "Low Nobility" does not refer to any title weight. It refers to any noble family disconnected from the events and politics within nobility and just existing as they are. Low nobility is where every noble family starts out. It's often obvious from first light whether a family will remain low nobility or will rise: the division between politically-involved and un-involved families is far more prominent than any other. Low nobles tend to host more events than high nobles, tend to thrive to retain their independence (see Independent Ser) and are usually the majority. High Nobility "Leading Nobility", "Political Nobility", "Top Nobility", "High Families" More "politically involved" than "high", high nobility tends to reach their heights due to active politics, scheming, proactivity, instigation and organisation. Not specifically "better" or "more worthy" than low nobility in any way, high nobles are simply a different category because they tend to display different behaviour. Many a time, people aim to become part of either category due to personal preferences, and are not stuck due to a "glass wall". High Nobility usually host less events, tend to be more reserved from random public roleplay and also tend to have a louder voice in community matters OOC. Noble-wannabe "Common Aristocracy", "Aspiring Nobility" Noble-wannabe is a pejorative term generally applied to any family that is founded & defined with a family page before gaining nobility. More specifically, the term is applied to those families from the category who try to imitate the behaviour of high nobility through family lore, claims of great history, maintaining an estate in the noble park or a rental region, having "stern recruitment standards" and often falling into the "Independent Ser" category discussed below, just with even less chance to stand & achieve on their own. They often suffer ridicule from high nobility due to their attempts, though at the same time this category has ironically given birth to many of the current high noble families as well. Independent Ser "Non-vassal", "Self-made Noble" The Independent Ser is a low noble stuck in low nobility due to lack of allegiance to any of the high noble houses. There is a long list of reason why a certain low noble can benefit from servitude under a higher house, though most often these are overlooked at the simple troubling thought of "How will I escape vassalage if I do rise in ranks?". See "Planning Too Much Ahead" way below for the issues with this. Independent Sers tend to make up half of the low nobility discussed above. They have a tendency to attend "Tea Parties" but not "Noble Meetings", while also hosting "Feast Events". They generally lack any governmental position or titles due to lack of alliances. Old Guard The "Old Guard" is a term coined by Valentinian to refer to the old generation of noble families who tend to stick together & share alliances. This usually means houses Typhonus, Ravenstad, Wodenstaff and Coen/Howlester. Bastion Guard The "Bastion Guard" is a term coined by Valentinian to refer to the new generation of noble families who were supporters of Charles Montagaard as Undercrown. This usually means houses Harhold, d'Vaud, Ruyter and Krupp. Ceardian Nobility Ceardian Nobility is a term sort-of coined by Marty to refer to noble families who distance themselves from cultural roleplay and instead opt to play a stereotypical, 19th-century-like depiction of British mainland nobility. The question of how to "roleplay X culture" is a hard one, especially in the case of cultures that have no fully-written page available. Though it's also a contradiction, since most culture pages were written up based on families that spearheaded an undefined culture and provided their own take on it. There are various arguments in favour and against playing "Ceardian Nobility". Generally, it's something that is far more prevalent for those new to nobility (and thus unfamiliar with cultures). The advantages are: *A neutral stance in culture and thus default neutrality in politics. *Ease of roleplay because you don't have to read pages of history & culture, neither do any new family member you recruit. *A lack of cultural disadvantages. Many cultures demand a certain attitude that may be uncomfortable for a roleplayer, EG, Ithanian identity and pacifism, Anglian crudeness, Calemberg patriarchy & prejudices, Etosian religiousness. The disadvantages are: *There is no chance of narrative based on culture. EG, Ithanians can interact with Ithania, Etosians with the patriarchy of Etosil, New-Regalians with the barons' army. *More than half the families fall into this category which may leave a family lack uniqueness and character. *Generally, cultural roleplay tends to be a fun aspect and Ceardian Families are often perceived as "Gamism" in roleplay due to the neutral ground and ease. Noble Characters Noble characters can be put into categories as well, and most families can be easily described / analysed simply based on what composition they have of these characters. Filler Noble "Background Noble", "Event Noble", "Tea-party Noble", "Generic Noble" Filler nobility are noble characters in any family detached from noble politics and general noble roleplay. Generally, a "filler noble" fulfills the following points: *Can be of either low or high nobility. *Is a floating or one-dimensional character. *Is detached from the narrative like a low noble character. *Is played by a player who does not instigate, direct or shade. Filler nobility in general tend to display the following qualities: *They tend to host "Feast Events" and "Tea Parties". *They tend to be played by "Family Hoppers". *They tend to be "Forums Characters". *They tend to have multiple characters, sometimes multiple nobles. *They have a tendency to play "Ceardian Nobility". *Have a heavy inclination to play the "Calemberg Knight" or the "Lady in Waiting". The opinion on filler nobility tends to be mixed. Some profess that they should not remain part of the nobility, some prefer their presence due to the events held and the numbers bolstered. What is true is that in many regards, "filler nobility" is not a category, it's more so another end of a spectrum to the following term, the "Proactive Noble". It also has to be remarked that proactivity requires activity from an OOC perspective which often pushes players who are busy RL to become background nobles. Proactive Noble "Active Noble", "Leading Noble" Proactive nobility is the other end of a spectrum where one end are "Filler Nobles". These players and character tend to be unique and driving narratives of their own. Generally speaking, the term is used when describing the political activity of a house. In almost all examples, the title weight and relevance of a house is determined simply by the amount of proactive nobility in it. There is no definition to what a proactive noble is, though there are some common things usually done by all of them: *They tend to lead active organisations, most often charters. *The patriarch or the matriarch of a high noble house is usually a proactive noble. *The patriarchs or matriarchs of low noble houses tend to be proactive nobles. *They tend to host less "Feast Events" and "Tea Parties" but are present during "Noble Meetings". *They tend to be the ones holding government / court positions. *They tend to be all titled & evaluated in the noble system. *They tend to maintain a "Power Base" and a "Manpower Pool". One-Dimensional Character A one-dimensional character is one that is built on a chosen combat or intellect school, and then constructed in a grape-like fashion. For example, one character is an "admiral". Then it's constructed that he loves sea-faring, his hobbies involve ships & fishing. His personality revolves around exploring and his aesthetics include admiral-related topics and themes. The issue with one-dimensional characters is that they have no surprise and not mystery to them. The human mind tend to find things boring if it can guess the whole from a part of it, and one-dimensional characters are just that. See "Lady in Waiting" and "Calemberg Knight" for the most extreme of one-dimensional characters. See "Floating Characters" below for a failed attempt to resolve single-dimension. See "Ceardian Nobility" for how this can influence a noble house. Floating Character A floating character is multi-dimensional but displaced in time and space and could be inserted into any situation. Let's take a guard character for example. Guard John who was educated in the school of tenpenny and spent his life guarding, with good morals and the general ambition to be the best guard ever, is a one-dimensional character. This could be changed by making him a New-Regalian guard called Fritz, who has some inner trouble since his family lineage is Velheimer yet he grew up in Calemberg. Making this change transform a "One-dimensional Character" into a "Floating Character" because the persona was given some substance, but they remain displaced in time and place. EG, Guard Fritz could as well be an Anglian integrating into Dragenthal. Or a Nordskagger integrating into Ithania. The concept wouldn't change much. Similarly, there is no time attached: this character could live in 200AC as much as he could live in 300AC with no change required to any detail in him. In fact, the character "Fritz the Guardman struggling to integrate into his birthplace due to an estranged ancestry of different culture" could as well be a Polish officer in the Prussian army before WW1 and the concept remains almost quite literally the same (alright, not tenpenny trained). Refer to the timelines on this Wikia to place your character in time and weave his past together with the event that transpired. Also mind your character's cultural background and birthplace and make sure they are integral to their personality too. Ithanian Patriach/Calemberg Matriarch This is a more extreme version of the "Ceardian Nobility" where a player breaks cultural norms of a character either knowingly or unknowingly. When it is done knowingly, it can be perceived as "Rebellious Teen Roleplay". When it is done unknowingly, it's non-manovelent ignorance of server lore. The term doesn't limit itself to Ithanian patriarchs (obsolete in a full-out Matriarchal culture, patriarchal Ithanian families tend to be wrongly defined Leutz families 90% the time) or Calemberg matriarchs (wrongly-defined Dressolini families), but also to any obvious inconsistency of a character with server lore. OOC Character OOC characters are characters that are created with a certain OOC-driven IC goal in mind. These are often made with an application posted and reviewed as quick as possible, then left resting and only played when necessary. These are almost always alt characters. Some etiquette to mind when making alt characters while a main of yours is involved in nobility: *From past examples done by this family too, it's generally viewed as unethical to do a "Reverend-swarm" and claim the Synod or any free-to-join governmental body with freshly-made characters. *The same applies to military positions, it's looked down upon to have someone create a family member of yours solely to fulfill a military role. *Characters created this way tend to end up one-dimensional and not much memorable either ways and should just be avoided. The Calemberg Knight The Calemberg Knight is the most common male "Filler Noble" and some scholars estimate they make up at least a third of the blue-blooded male population. A Calemberg Knight is: *A male noble. *Educated in a combat school. *Involved in the military and/or a guard charter, but nothing else. *Attends jousting & tournament events. *Is muscular and beautiful. *Is one-dimensional, built wholly on the idea of the "male combatant". A twist of this exists, the Velheimer woman which is the same stereotype just with the extra depth of the character being a beefy woman, usually unattractive and crude. Lady in Waiting The Lady in Waiting is the most common female "Filler Noble" and some scholars estimate they make up at least a third of the blue-blooded female population. A Lady in Waiting is: *A female noble. *Educated in an intellect or arts school. *Member to any number of "Name Roster Group". *Attends "Feast Events" and "Tea Parties". *Is young and beautiful, but also weak and emotional. *Is one-dimensional, built wholly on the idea of the "princess in the tower". Noble Events Noble events come in a variety of forms though they can be categorised the same way noble families or characters can be. There is a misconception floating around low nobility that the way to gain a higher title is by actively hosting events. This, especially in the recent past, led to the tradition of low nobles hosting far more events than high nobles. Feast Event A "Feast Event" is not necessarily a feast. In fact, they usually come as balls, but "Ball events" sounds terrible. It's a term used to define "attention" events that share a couple traits: *They tend to be announced weeks prior, sometimes even a month prior. *They are built on passivity and interaction of attendants instead of the interaction of the host and attendants. *They are not meant to change any status quo. Feast events are not necessarily "bad" or "negative", neither should they be discouraged. The main use and point of them is to collect nobility on a regular basis and allow for newcomers and aspiring nobles to meet the rest of the flock. At the same time, one should never expect to gain much relevance from holding feast events. A popular version of the "Feast Event" is the "Tournament Event" that eliminates passivity with a sign-up for participation in some kind of roll-based competition. Tea Party A "Tea Party" refers to any ad-hoc noble or character gathering where the goal is casual roleplay and not to change any status quo. It's similar to a "Feast Event", just not pre-announced. Noble Meeting A "Noble Meeting" is any pre-arranged or ad-hoc meetup of nobility where one character seek to convince another of something in order to change the status quo. This can be an alliance, a vassalage, support for a position, acceptance into an organisation and so on. I personally use the term in any situation where two nobles meet, and where at least one intends to change the playing field by convincing the other of something. Occupation The term "Occupation" or "Occupation Event" refers to a traditional long-lasting story-arc that often involves limitations imposed on roleplay within Regalia (the main setting). It is named after the Qadir Occupation, the first occupation event. Self-driven Narrative Coined by Marty after a thread posted in reply to an older theory which he had previously published. A Self-driven Narrative is any story or event that is arranged within a community of players with no external influence. EG, a hunt DM-ed by one of the hunters. A roleplayed bandit raid on an estate DM-ed by the estate's owners or anything similar. Name Roster Groups A "Name Roster Group" is the most widespread form of organisation on Massivecraft. You can see one popping up every week, and many dying within a week or two. Common traits include: *An organisation founded often with the prospect of gaining titles or relevance. *The organisation has a sign-up system and a name roster. *The organisation has a theme, often revolving around "meetings" or "regular events". *The organisation has no intents to alter any status quo. *Most often, the organisation exists as a venue of IC entertainment for members. Name Roster Groups aren't bad, neither are they detrimental to the scene. They are very similar to "Feast Events", though they are built on "Charter Hoppers" instead of "Background Nobility". Charity Claim Charity claims refer to claims made either on the forums or in-character to providing charity. The main issue with these claims is that, since there is no finances roleplay, any claim is unfounded and it depends solely on the players whether they will oppose a claim OOC because it's too absurd. Take a charity event, for example. Players will most likely roleplay along if your events involves providing soup for the downtrodden. They may play along if you host an IC auction from which spoils go to charity. But what will players say if you claim you provide a flat for every homeless person in Regalia? What stops someone from claiming they are distributing bars of gold to the downtrodden? Roleplay Behaviour Proactivity Productivity Instigation Scheming Shade Self-Destructive Roleplay Martinez Scheme Planning Too Much Ahead Power Base Manpower Pool Gamism or MinMaxing Rebellious Teen Roleplay Community Behaviour Family Hopping Charter-Hopping OOC Mercy Forums Character Forums Shade 4D Chess Glass Wall